Sunday, April 12, 2015

OF PRESSTITUTES, PAID MEDIA AND OTHER BUYABLE TYPES

OF PRESSTITUTES, PAID MEDIA AND OTHER BUYABLE

TYPES

—Well , it has been finally proved what we the ‘mango people’ suspected since long!! Like in any other society , we have two types of media and journalists in this Country. The type who are ethical , know their facts , are not looking for cheap popularity and most of all , ‘cannot be bought’ . These are those 90% which VK Singh refers to. On the other hand we have Ruchir Joshi, Arnab Goswami and Shekhar Gupta who are in the wrong profession (actually if we count them in the ‘other’ 10 % , they may well be in the right profession!!).

I am appalled at the intelligence, ignorance and mediocrity along with a penchant for sensationalism displayed by some of these buyable types who more interested in TRP’s and retaining their jobs, rather than ethical reporting. Over the past few years the Indian media has developed a new bestiary of ways to get paid-for content directly into the media stream without provenance, some of which is directly attributable to the ‘hidden hands’ bankrolling them. I ask these so called defenders of free speech and protectors of democracy - - what are the ethical lines your paid-for content should not cross? The Country wants to know. And it wants to know now. As Shyamali Banerjee mentioned in her column, sometimes the border line between ‘news’ and’ cooked up news’ gets blurred. Herein lies the gist in what distinguishes gutter level reporting and ethical reporting which is the hallmark of a respected journalist and his paper / TV channel.

Recollect what Rajdeep Sardesai, the Editor’s Guild President had said some time back—‘’The Guild was deeply shocked and seriously concerned at the increasing number of reports detailing the pernicious practice of publishing paid news by some newspapers and television channels, especially during the recent elections’. Yes Sir , this type of scurrilous reporting is becoming a habit of late and the anchors and journalists who have made this their bye-line are well known!

Take the recent article published in the TOI, Bangalore edition by Ruchir Joshi. It is quite evident that Shri Ruchir Joshi requires a crash course in history and politics. Even a cub reporter knows that senior military men and those who have served in the military have many a time been among the most respected politicians in various countries— In the United States Of America for example, twelve American presidents were generals : Washington, Jackson, W. Harrison, Taylor, Pierce, A. Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, B. Harrison, and Eisenhower. Europe , Russia and the United Kingdom too have had their fair share of military men who later chose to join the profession of politics.Here I have a question for all our media people and journalists . Pray how many of you experts in wielding your pens and presstituting your voices have ever wielded a rifle to defend your motherland??

This again the Country wants to know. My dear friends in the media , be true to yourself and to your profession . If you do not have the aptitude or the knowledge for the same, find another job. Or do you want us, the public, to call Tarun Tejpal and Nira Radia once again??